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Friday, 8 April 2011

Of Quests and Heartbreak

On this last day, the Kingdom Within Tarot offers us heartbreak, in the form of the Five of Cups.

In the foreground, four golden cups lie on the dark sands, their contents spilled like heart's blood. Between them stands a bright red scorpion, stinger at the ready. Looking at this scene is a brunette knight in dark grey armour, head bowed, holding the reigns of a black horse. Behind him, Sir Galahad seems to float past carrying a luminous, jewel-encrusted grail, his blond hair flowing down his back and his armour shining brightly. The "sea" is psychedelically coloured, as is the sky behind, with a suggestion of the aurora borealis, or a path to a golden ring from which spring pink formations.

What message here, then? Perhaps that in giving up hope, in seeing only the negative, we doom ourselves to heartbreak. As in more traditional decks, if the knight were to look around he might be amazed by what he saw, by the potential for hope, belief, and something to follow.

Sir Galahad holds his grail, divine guidance and love, a thing of beauty to inspire heart and mind. The psychedelic sea suggests powerful, overwhelming emotions, and yet which eventually come to shore and break like any other wave. The lights in the sky make me think of great plans and dreams, which need work to make them into reality, but which offer so much, even just in the journey.

I am grateful for the times in my life when I have been shaken out of grief and self-pity to see the beauty and possibilities around me.